Seller's remorse

I sold my other bike last month. I received a few emails about it and had one person that was more interested than the others, even willing to pay the asking price and did his research and really like the bike. There was another person who wanted to see the bike so I met with him to show the bike. As a negotiation tool, he pointed out how he doesn't like the bars and it might not be the bike for him so he wanted to know if I can lower my price. As if I'm at his mercy and he's doing me a service by buying a bike that is not perfect for him. I scratched of 10 dollars and he wanted another 10 dollar discount on top of that claiming that he doesn't really like the bike as much. Doesn't care for the rear rack, basket, and the grip shifters. At the moment, my mind quickly thought "ok, this is not the bike for you"...but the temptation of selling it then and there was more of an influence. He bought it with a 15 dollar discount.

Ocassionally, I would think about how I shouldn't have sold it to that guy. What kind of crap is that telling me that he doesn't really like the bike so I should lower the price? I would've rather sold it to a person that loves it and then maybe I would've taken 20 dollars off...The other person who was willing to pay asking price and did the research emailed me at the end of the day saying that he's nearby and would like to see the bike as soon as possible. I had to let him down and told him the bike sold that morning.

$15 is a trivial amount so not worth worrying about. You sold the bike because you thought it was a good deal, not because he was doing you a favour. You didn't know the other guy would turn up. And maybe the other guy would also have negotiated a discount or decided not to buy, or not even showed up - who knows. You sold the bike and it's time to move on.

I agree with cooker, you made some money, sold the bike, no regrets, and now you know what to look for in the future.

I sell cars on eBay a lot and I have to control myself because in the back of my head I get angered by the people who just email me with some lowball offer to try and get it outside of ebay like they are doing me a favor by taking the car 5 days before the auction ends. Even worse is when I'm selling a collectible car that they damn well know is worth WAY more than what they offered. I just grin and bear it and tell them, sorry you must bid I don't do outside ebay deals, and move on. I guess my point is, unless you are desprate to sell it don't let someone treat you like that when you sell, otherwise you will never sell for the price you want, and you will likely feel like you do now.

If you had a personal investment in the bike, it would naturally sting a bit if he dissed it just to get you to take the price down. Trivial, perhaps, but sleazy on his part... I'd rather someone just offer me a lower price if they wanted to bargain, instead of trying to convince me that I was selling crap.

In future, if you're not willing to bargain, just say in the ad that your price is firm. A lot of people selling on places like Craigslist deliberately post inflated prices because they know people will try to talk them down.

I think this is not about money but about you feeling that you are selling (letting down a friend). I know what it is like. I`d rather give a bike to a person who likes it than selling one to a person who does not understand what he is getting!

Feel ike this also if I think the person is just going to ride it and dump it instead of taking care of it and repair it. Often I am stuck with a bike over time becouse I can not find a buyer (or new owner) that is worthy of it

I just don't get buying a bike you don't completely love...or maybe he does.

I sell old records/vinyl online also and usually those buyers are glad that they found the record for sale in the first place...most would write to me after receiving the records telling me how much they enjoyed listening to them or playing them for friends, or can't wait to listen to them.

This thread tends to challenge some of the assumptions of free-market economists. People don't make rational economic decisions. A bike is a hunk of useful material, it's not your friend or child. Yet we all feel some attachment to them and emotion plays a big part in buying or selling them.